Communication of intelligence



Feb. 28, 1950 D. D. GRIEG 2,498,677

` COMMUNICATION OF INTELLIGENCE Filed June 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l digi.

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ATTH/VEY Feb. 28, 1950 D. D. GRIEG 2,498,677 v COMMUNICATION 0F' INTELLIGENCE Filed June 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. DONALD D. GlEG BY @Ma Patented F eb. 28, 1950 UNITED STAT-Es PATENT UFFICI:

vDonald v D. Gricg, f oest Hills`,N.";Yfassigor'to Federal'Tel'ephone' and RaddCoi'praition, New `Y,ork, N. Y.; a corporationof Delaware Appli-cation Juneffis, 1945,5seriarNo. 609.255

9 claims. (ci. 'S32-fis) This invention relates -to new and vusefulimprovements Iin systems of communicating intelligence.

Intelligence may'becommunicated to .-a distancezover-a suitablemedium by modulating .the amplitude or the frequency of a lcarrier in accordance with thedesired signal. Each of.. these systems has its distinct advantages and disadvantages, among which are the `following:

The vso-called amplitude modulation system (A. M.) -occupies considerably-lessfrequency'band width than required for frequency Nmodulation (F. M.). On the other hand, the F. M. :signalto-noise ratio mayfbe many times greater. Also the .amplifiers in relays and receivers 'of LM. aref relatively simple since they need not'have-the straight line response characteristic required for A. M.

The-object of the vinventionis-to devise a systemfcf'transmitting signals embodying. manyof the advantages of both*I amplitude and-,- frequency modulation, and avoiding severalof fthe disadvantages of bothsystems.

`According to the present inventiongtheintelligence :is transmitted by -modulating partly the frequency and partly the amplitudeof af carrier. yin: accordance with the signal.

This is accomplished by vrst modulating the amplitudeof the carrier in accordance -I-With-the signal -Y and then removingl the "amplitudeevarfiationsfe. g., by clipping the-amplitudefmodulations. ,This will yield square waveswhose slopes vary in accordance withthe modulation. The higher harmonics at the carrier frequency are removediand the `frequencies :about the Icarrier fundamental transmitted, e. fg., by 4passing'the square waves through a'band pass lterwhioh willr remove the carrier harmonicsf-andaccoinpanying harmonic f sidebands and transmit'fonly the carrier with its accompanyingsidebandfcoinponents.

'The'resultant Whichmig'ht be "called Yia""t.l i1:\ modulated (C. M.) carrier, vmay be received egg., by rst clipping and then' diierentiating to reproduce the original A. M. signal.

The band width'needed for C..v is somewhat larger than that required for A.. M. withla .corresponding vimprovement in Signal,to-noise.:ratio. The amplifiers need not'ha've straight line-regI sponsepiirves -faithfully'to repeat and relay "this typeoflCJMfsignals.

'Ifheinventionwill nowbe' r'nore"fullyv explained with rfrencetothe drawingsfin' which:

yEig. .1 -i1lustrates..-the carrier. vand the square top wave formed therefrom;

y Fig.. 2 fshowsthe transmitted ,.C. lwave;

.Eig..l3 illustrates "the 'clipping `of the vreceived signal;

"Fig n4V illustrates the ysignal rafter differentiationinthefreceiver;

Figsf5 .andlare block diagrams of twotransmittersvtand;

. Figslf'l; ad"are'-block.-diagrams of two receivers 1 that mayybelused.

.',T-l'ief-AQl-M. yWave l l'formed about' an axis?- has an-:envelope-S which .does not "dip tothe axis, i .-re., 'fthe carrier .is "less Athan '100% modulated. Thef.A.` f:M. wave lmay befclipped along 'lines 4 and 4.5 which .'maybe anywhere .Within the narrowest'part ofthe envelope f3. The resultant squareelippedmave 6 .is indicatedin heavy lines. The'fmdula'tin r-.of Ltlie carrier is represented by the slope' of the.. discrete pulses vof which the wave 6..i s `made/13.10.

The wave.6 =ls, passed through Aa'baridpass lter to .produce-aC. Mj'wa've T suitable for transmission within a' muchnarro'wer frequency spectrum barldthat'would'be needed" for Wave'. The differencebetween' larld 1' isvthat the sharp corners are ""roiinded'ths, eliminating thehigher harmonies," and "the ar'nplitude` swing 'of #envelope f8 of the Wai/'e1 is considerably less' as indicated' by the. s1ight dip if at 9. The extent to which the slopes of '.wavel fare'ilecte dj ike., greater degree Cif.` 'frequecy'mddulatim andthe envelope" amplitiide"variatins i. ,e.,`greater vdegree of 4amplitude modulation,l'deperi'dsonthe .spectrumvv band that one wishes "to occupy in""transmission. The greatertheyariations of theslopes Yof C. M. wave T is and|` theatter"its envelope" 8, the'more space Will be needed for the "signal in"thefrequency Spectrum. ".IIIieenvelope" may be flattened and the 'fcoin'ers.; rounded so [as that; C. M. 'wave "l Will have' manytijmes 'the signal-tolnoise ratio of wave l,"occ.11p'yf10nly several times as wldeabarid,A and reqire 'no straight-line amplis.

along' lines' I0,' I l :which arel'wthiri'the"narrowest andere part of the envelope a. This will yield a square-topped wave 6 which is substantially like 6 and from which much of the parasitic noise has been eliminated.

After differentiation, a wave I2 (Fig. 4) is produced Whose envelope 3 is substantially like the envelope 3 of the original A. M. wave I.

While in Figs. 1 and 3 the lines 4, 5 and Ill, II along which the wave is clipped are symmetrical with respect to the axis, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that any other portion of the Wave may be clipped out symmetrically or asymmetrically with respect tothe axis.

Referring now to the transmitter illustrated in Fig. 5 a crystal-controlled oscillator or other type.

oscillator I3 is connected with an amplier I4 which may be modulated from an audio source I5.

If a crystal-controlled oscillator may be used.

a source of complications of F. M. transmittersV is eliminated.

The output of the modulated amplier I4 will be the amplitude modulated wave I- (Fig'. 1).- This is fed to a known gate clipper I6, which may be a double limiter circuit, for example, which will clip the wave I along lines 4, 5 (Fig. 1) producing the wave S. A band pass filter I'I through which wave 6 next passes removes the'higher harmonies so as to transmit only the fundamental wave and its side bands.

The C. M. wave 'I may be transmitted over the air, wires or any other suitable medium.

The circuits of the amplifier I4, gate .clipper I6 and the band pass filter I'IY may be of any conventional types having two ltubes and operating at low power levels. y, v

Many modifications of the transmitter, may be adopted. For instance, the clipping and filtering may be repeated in several stages as shown in Fig. 6 whereinl a crystal-oscillator I8 ydrives a modulated amplifier I9 connectedV over a gate clipper 2B with a band Ypass iilter 2|. The iilter 2l feeds into a second amplier 22 which together with the amplier I9, is modulated from an audio source 23 and to which the C.V M. Wave output of the band pass lter 2| is applied for a further modulation.

A second gate or double clipper 24 clipsv'tlieolltfV put of modulator 22 and feeds it to a band'pass filter 25 which removes the higher harmonics: The output of the band pass lter 25 may be further modulated by thesignalvas desired. j

While any well-knowntype ofl F. M. receiver may be used for receiving signal Vl, preferably the receiver comprises the elementsof Fig'. 7 in the manner such as vdisclosed in Vmyco-pendi'ng application, Serial No. 483,366, filed, April 16,

1943, Patent No. 2,471,427 or the elements ofV Fig. 8. v v Y Y In Fig. 7 the signal 'I is passed through a radio frequency detector and intermediate frequency amplifier 26 to a double gate clipper 21 where the signal is clipped along lines I0 and .Ilj (Fig: 3). The wave E thus produced is differentiated at'28 which yields'wave I2 (Fig. e), A' peak. riding detector 29 conveys the A. jsignalsto'an audio reproducing system 30. "j l' As in the transmitter, manymodification's can' be made in the receiver also.' For instance, as shown in Fig. 8, the difierentiator 28v and 'peak riding detector 29 are' replaced by a harmonic selector 28' and a suitable detector 29'. While I have shown and described my invention with reference to particular embodiments itwill be der to. .there .Skilled leihen?? that 'Ollieembodiments and variations of those shown may be made without departing from my invention. It will be understood, therefore, that the present embodiments are given by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a communication system, means for generating a carrier wave, means for modulating the amplitude of the carrier in accordance with the intelligence to be communicated, means for clipping the modulated carrier between two symmetrical levels above and below the carrier axis and passing only that portion of the wave intermediate the two levels, and means for removing harmonics from said clipped wave portion.

2. The communication system according to I claim l, and further comprising means for modu- Alating in accordance with the intelligence to be communicated the output of the last mentioned "means for removing harmonics, means for clipping out a portion of the wave produced by the 'last mentioned modulation, and means for removing harmonics from the last mentioned clipped wave portion.

3. In a communication system, means for generating a carrier wave, means for modulating the amplitude of the carrier in accordance with the intelligence to be communicated to an extent which will maintain the modulated wave envelope at all points above the axis of the carrier, means for clipping the carrier within the narrowest part of the envelope, and lter means for removing some of the higher harmonics from the clipped Wave.

` 4. The communication system according to claim 3, and further comprising means for modulating in accordance with the intelligence to be communicated the output of the filter means to an extent which'will maintain the modulated wave envelope at all points above the axis of the carrier, means for clipping the wave thus modulated within the narrowest part of its envelope, and a second iilter means for removing additional higher harmonicsfor the clipped wave.

5. In a communication system, means including a crystal-controlled oscillator for generating a carrier wave, means for modulating the amplitude of the carrier in accordance with the intelligence to be communicated to an extent which will maintain the modulated wave envelope at all points above theY axis of the carrier, means for clipping the modulated carrier between two symmetrical levels above and below its axis but within the narrowest part of the envelope and passing only that portion of the wave intermediate the two levels, a band pass filter for removing from the clipped waves all harmonics except those adjacent the fundamental, and means for transmitting the last-mentioned waves.

' 6. The method of communication comprising the following steps: generating a carrier wave energy, amplitude modulating the carrier in accordance with the signals, clipping the modulated carrier between two symmetrical levels above and below the carrier axis and passing only that portion of the carrier intermediate the two levels, filtering said portion to remove some of the higher harmonics, and transmitting the carrierw'ith the remaining harmonics.

7. The method according to claim 6, and in which the filtering is performed in a plurality of successive steps. Y

8.`The methodof communication comprising the following steps: generating a carriergampli-ftude modulating the carrier in wave energy "in accordance with the signals, clipping the modulated carrier between two symmetrical levels above and below the carrier axis adjacent said axis, and passing only that portion of the wave intermediate the two levels, ltering said portion to remove al1 5 the higher harmonics. and transmitting the carrier with the harmonics adjacent the fundamental.

9. The method according to claim 8, and in which the filtering is performed in a plurality 10 of steps.

DONALD D. GRIEG.

REFERENCES CITED Number l1,564,627 1,673,002

The following references are of record in the 15 Number le of this patent: 

